Lockset seat extension on type e coupler

ABSTRACT

Certain difficulties in opening and coupling of American Association of Railroads (AAR) Standard E Couplers have been traced to a combination of wear in the parts and a higher than desirable lock-set seat on the coupler lock. By providing a downward extension on said seat such difficulties have been overcome.

United States 1. 1.1

Baker, Sr. 1 Nov. 26, 1974 [54] LocKsET SEAT EXTENSION 0N TYPE E 2,709,007 5/1955 Metzger 215/140 COUPLER 3,168,202 2/1965 Cope 1 213/146 3,698,570 10/1972 Metzger 213/146 Inventor: William Frederick Baker, Sr.,

Alliance, Ohio Assignee: AMSTED Industries Incorporated,

Chicago, 1]].

Filed: June 18, 1973 Appl. No.: 370,833

US. Cl. 213/147, 213/127 Int. Cl. B61g 3/08 Field of Search 213/127, 142, 143, 144,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 9/1952 Borlancl 213/127 Primary Examiner-M'. Henson Wood, Jr. Assistant Examiner-Gene A. Church [57] ABSTRACT Certain difficulties in opening and coupling of American Association of Railroads (AAR) Standard E Couplers have been traced to a combination of wear in the parts and a higher than desirable lock-set seat on the coupler lock. By providing a downward extension on said seat such difficulties have been overcome.

4 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures LOCKSET SEAT EXTENSION N TYPE E COUPLER This invention relates to AAR Standard E Couplers and more particularly to a downwardly projecting extension on the lock-set seat of the look;

A primary object of the invention is to minimize or eliminate any tendency of the lock to hang up on the knuckle thrower when the knuckle moves to closed position.

Another object of the invention is to ensure that the knuckle can be opened manually with the lock in lockset position even under conditions of maximum wear of the parts.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will be understood from a consideration of the following specification and the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view partly in central vertical section of a Standard AAR E Coupler embodying the invention, the lock being shown in locked position with the knuckle fully closed;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 with the lock in lock-set position preparatory to opening of the knuckle;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 with the knuckle in an initial stage of its opening movement;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view taken from the rear or inner end of the knuckle tail showing its relationship with the lock fulcrum according to the invention and according to the prior art;

FIG. 5 is a'side elevational view of the lock showing the novel lock-set seat compared with the prior art lock-set seat; and

FIG. 6 is a rear elevational view of the structure shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. I shows a knuckle 2 of an American Association of Railroads (AAR) Standard E Coupler generally designated 4. The knuckle is pivotally connected by a pin 6 to a coupler head 8 and is shown in FIG. 1 in fully closed position with a lock 10 in locked position whereat the'lock fulcrum 12 seats on a lock shelf 14 of a tail portion 15 of the knuckle and a substantially horizontal seal 16 of the lock is supported by a knuckle thrower 18. seat The knuckle thrower 18 is mounted for pivotal move ment in the head on a vertical axis by means of a trunnion (not shown) as is well known by those skilled in the art.

The lock 10 is actuated in the usual manner by a toggle 20 having trunnion 22 received within a slot 23 in a leg 24 of the lock. The toggle is pivotally connected at 26 to a connector 28 which is pivotally connected at 30 to a hook 32 pivotally mounted at 34 to the coupler head. An operating rod (not shown) is connected to the connector 28 in the usual manner to effect clockwise rotation (as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2) of the connector 28 and hook 32 for purposes hereinafter described.

FIG. 2 shows the lock in lock-set position with a lockset seat 36 of the lock supported on the thrower 18. It will be understood that the lock is actuated from the position of FIG. 1 to the position of FIG. 2 by clockwise rotation of the hook 32 and connector 28 so that the toggle trunnion slides upwardly to the top of the slot 23 pushing the lock upwardly and rotating the lock in a counterclockwise direction to position the lock-set seat 36 above the thrower l8 whereupon the operating rod (not shown) is released, and its weight as well as the movement to open position either by manual operation or by an uncoupling movement of the head 8 or the head of a mated coupler (not shown) as is well known by those skilled in the art. Continued movement of the knuckle to its fully open position causes the lock fulcrum 12 to slide upwardly along the sloping knuckle tail surface 38 whereby the lock rotates, by its own weight and the weight of the connected parts, in a clockwise direction to a position whereat the lock-set seat 36 is entirely disposed forwardly of the knuckle thrower 18. Subsequent closing of the knuckle thus permits the lock to drop back to the position of FIG. 1.

The clockwise rotation of the lock as the knuckle moves to open position is improved according to the present invention by a downward extension or pad on the lock-set seat not in excess of the order of 0.218 of an inch and at least the order of 0.125 of an inch. The preferred length of the extension is about 0.187 of an inch. This extension lowers the center of gravity of the lock and positively effects such clockwise rotation thereof whereas prior art locks have sometimes failed to rotate sufficiently to clear the thrower resulting in coupling failure.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the knuckle tail l5 and the lock fulcrum 12 looking forwardly from the rear or inner end of the knuckle tail. This Figure shows another advantage of the present invention. The normal position of the prior art fulcrum 12 along its lower surface in the lock-set position of FIG. 2 is shown at 40 in FIG. 4. Under extreme wear of the parts in a prior art coupler, the lower surface of the fulcrum 12 assumed the position shown at 42 whereat manual opening of the knuckle was impossible. According to the invention the normal position of the lower surface of the fulcrum under these conditions is shown at 44 in FIG. 4, thereby assuring that under extreme wear conditions, manual opening of the knuckle may be accomplished without difficulty by an operator to slide the knuckle tail sloping surface 38 beneath the fulcrum 12 lifting the lock 10 upwardly as heretofore described.

Referring now to FIGS. 5 and 6, the novel lock-set seat according to the invention is shown by solid lines at 36 and a conventional lock-set seat by phantom lines at 36a. Thus the horizontal plane of seat 36 is farther from a horizontal plane A-A tangential to the bottom of fulcrum 12 by about 0. l 25 of an inch to about 0.218 of an inch, and preferably of the order of 0.187 of an inch, than in a Standard AAR E Coupler lock.

What is claimed is:

1. In an AAR Standard E Coupler having a knuckle pivoted to a head and having a knuckle thrower affording support for a lockset seat of the lock in its lockset position whereat the bottom of the locks fulcrum is aligned with a lower edge of an upwardly sloping surface of said knuckle; the improvement which consists of a downward extension on said lockset seat extending downwardly at least the order of 0.125 of an inch and not more than the order of 0.218 of an inch below a corresponding lockset seat of an AAR Standard E lock as measured from a plane including the base of the locks fulcrum.

2. A coupler according to claim 1 wherein the extension extends downwardly approximately 0.187 of an inch below the corresponding lock-set seat of an AAR Standard E lock.

3. A lock for a knuckle of an AAR Standard E Coupler, said lock having a depending leg with a toggle slot extending diagonally upwardly and rearwardly, a downwardly facing thrower seat on said lock above and rearwardly of said leg, a downwardly facing lockset seat on said leg extending to the rear edge thereof below said aninch. 

1. In an AAR Standard E Coupler having a knuckle pivoted to a head and having a knuckle thrower affording support for a lockset seat of the lock in its lockset position whereat the bottom of the lock''s fulcrum is aligned with a lower edge of an upwardly sloping surface of said knuckle; the improvement which consists of a downward extension on said lockset seat extending downwardly at least the order of 0.125 of an inch and not more than the order of 0.218 of an inch below a corresponding lockset seat of an AAR Standard E lock as measured from a plane including the base of the lock''s fulcrum.
 2. A coupler according to claim 1 wherein the extension extends downwardly approximately 0.187 of an inch below the corresponding lock-set seat of an AAR Standard E lock.
 3. A lock for a knuckle of an AAR Standard E Coupler, said lock having a depending leg with a toggle slot extending diagonally upwardly and rearwardly, a downwardly facing thrower seat on said lock above and rearwardly of said leg, a downwardly facing lockset seat on said leg extending to the rear edge thereof below said thrower seat and forwardly thereof, a fulcrum on said lock projecting forwardly of said leg, said lockset seat being approximately horizontal, and said lockset seat being spaced farther from a horizontal plan tangential to the bottom of said fulcrum than in an AAR Standard E Coupler lock, by a distance of from the order of 0.125 of an inch to the order of 0.218 of an inch.
 4. A lock according to claim 3 wherein the lock-set seat is farther from said plane than in an AAR Standard E Coupler lock by a distance of the order of 0.187 of an inch. 